The Colorado Avalanche opened the scoring against the Oilers last night on the powerplay, but it was a play that clearly should've been called a penalty against the home team.
As the Avalanche carried the puck into the Oilers zone on the powerplay, Ivan Ivan ran a pick to intercept Connor Brown take him out of the play entirely.
It's a common pick play that hardcore hockey fans have seen many times before, and while Zach Hyman and Evander Kane may have been called for it a few times, it's a penalty that referees clearly miss far too often.
In last night's case, Ivan's successful pick turned a 5 on 4 into a 4 on 3 - much more vulnerable situation for the Oilers - and Colorado made good on it.
The 2 Mutts Hockey Podcast, who is known to have inside and accurate scoops, even came out to say that Oilers defender Evan Bouchard gets away with this play a few times each game, and other teams are aware of it.
Oilers fans have probably noticed this as well, but Bouchard is excellent at running picks both in the offensive and defensive zones.
It's a physical play for sure, but it's also Bouchard's hockey IQ to scan the ice and put himself into positions that will help the team.
Even if it is overly prevalent in hockey, the referees need to enact a crack down on the rules or completely ignore it instead. When a penalty is called so inconsistently, it creates confusion for the fans and the players.
Oftentimes plays like this are let go in the playoffs, but then when it is called can alter the entire outcome of a game - like the Leafs playoffs a few years ago.
The best that hockey can strive for is consistent calls from the referees. Even if refs start calling this penalty more frequently as it happens, these picks will reduce as players are weary of actually taking a penalty.
Calls for referees to speak publicly after the game are growing, as the puzzling decisions of penalty calls is happening to every team around the NHL.
In reality, this should be a play that's called more frequently in the regular season to stop these picks and encourage more skill plays, but in the playoffs only should the rules be relaxed. That ease of calls in the playoffs is probably the only consistent thing about NHL referees.
Thankfully for the Oilers, after Colorado scored first on this play, Edmonton laid a beating on the home team. The Oilers pulled ahead for a commanding 4-1 win, continuing a nice stretch of hockey now.
